Ministry of Defence

Afghanistan: Immigration

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Afghan interpreters (1) have applied for, and (2) been granted, relocation to the United Kingdom under the policy regarding intimidation.

Earl Howe: Under Her Majesty's Government's Intimidation Policy for locally employed staff in Afghanistan staff can raise a claim of intimidation and following investigation we provide them with the most appropriate measure to mitigate any risk they may face. This can include security advice, financial support to move location within Afghanistan or relocation to the UK. Under the current policy no local staff have been relocated to the UK, and we have relocated some 30 local staff within Afghanistan.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Queen Elizabeth II

Lord Hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to acknowledge and celebrate Her Majesty the Queen becoming the longest-serving monarch on 9 September.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Her Majesty’s Government congratulates Her Majesty the Queen on this historic milestone and wishes her many more happy years as Head of State. In line with Her Majesty the Queen’s wishes, there were no official events to mark the occasion.

Department for Work and Pensions

Carer's Allowance

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many households in receipt of Carer’s Allowance have a total benefit income above (1) £20,000,and (2) £23,000.

Lord Freud: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Telephone Services

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has target times by which members of the public can reasonably expect to get through on the telephone and speak to an official; by what percentage extent there has been a change over the past three years in the number of telephone calls from the public seeking information or assistance from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; and what training in communication skills is provided for the officials in that Department.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Department’s target is for 93% of telephone enquiries to be answered within 45 seconds. Call volumes to the general enquiries telephone line for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were as follows:April 2012-March 2013: 41,562 callsApril 2013-March 2014: 31,426 calls (a 24% decrease from 2012-2013)April 2014-March 2015: 30,533 calls (a 3% decrease from 2013-2014) Training provision on communication skills is dependent on the needs of officials and teams. An advanced level course on the professional handling of telephone calls was most recently delivered to frontline call handlers on Thursday 20 August.

Offices: Rents

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the costs of renting office space in cities, especially London, and of the effect on those costs as more previously disused office space is converted into new flats.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: BIS constantly review occupancy costs through effective data management utilising best in class market advisors to provide current market rental evidence. London particularly has seen an increase in office rental values driven in part by the demand for alternative residential use. BIS have adopted strategies to mitigate the costs resulting in a cost per person and space utilisation being lower in London than regions.   A BIS 2020 Estate strategy is currently being developed to maximise the efficient use of office space across the office portfolio. The new estates strategy will drive significant reductions in floor space and coupled with greater emphasis on online working will deliver substantial savings over the spending review period.